I've heard of BA allowing an extra couple of weeks to enable people to get over the threshold but I don't think I've heard of them lowering the threshold for new qualifications. Asking them to do both is pushing it I think.

That said, you are right about the current flexibility around status renewals at the moment so I understand your frustration. However I think it's one thing to enable a customer who has previously qualified for Gold (perhaps for many years) to renew for another year but another to lower the threshold for people who haven't quite made it.

Good luck for next year!